Can a cyclist with Multifocal Motor Neuropathy (MMN) ride a Tour de France route?

That’s the question Clive Phillips will answer, when he rides his most challenging Ride for MMN to date - the Tour de MMN to connect the MMN community and raise funds for critical MMN research.

The Tour de France is the biggest cycling event in the world and one of the most grueling sporting events. Completing it is the pinnacle of a professional cyclist's career, one that can elude even the best. For an amateur cyclist, riding a single stage of the Tour is a once in a lifetime challenge - riding the whole route, an impossible dream. For someone living with MMN, a rare, life changing chronic neurological condition affecting the peripheral nervous system, the challenges are multiplied. Despite regular treatment, Clive’s body is permanently weakened by MMN, his left side weaker than his right side and the fine motor control in his left hand impaired.

In the Tour de MMN, Clive and a team of fellow military veterans will ride a 3200km route inspired by the 1955 Tour De France. Starting on 30 May 2025, the team will try to achieve their impossible dream, in 22 stages over 25 days. Clive must fit his training and the ride around his regular 6 weekly treatment, and he will be pushing his body in a way he has never before.

How will Clive’s body respond to the demands on it? As he prepares for this journey of a lifetime, questions linger in his mind: Will the treatment wear off quicker than normal, causing my muscles to fail as the demands of the ride hit home? Will I lose strength until I can no longer change gear, pull the brakes, or force the pedals round?

Only time will tell; Like the British team that debuted at the 1955 Tour De France and in whose tyre tracks the team will ride, Clive will only know if the ride is possible once he is on the road. The Tour de MMN is not a challenge for the faint hearted, but the team are determined to give their best, both to complete it and to put Multifocal Motor Neuropathy and the MMN community in the spotlight as they do.

From cheers at the roadside to donations to the MMN research fund, the team is asking for your support in their challenge. They are incredibly grateful for all the support they receive.

Every dollar will go to support critical research needed to further understand this debilitating and isolating condition.

Tour de MMN 2025 - A Tour de France Challenge

Tour de MMN 2025 - A Tour de France Challenge supporting GBS│CIDP Foundation International

Tour de MMN 2025 - A Tour de France Challenge

Tour de MMN 2025 - A Tour de France Challenge supporting GBS│CIDP Foundation International